Biographical Data :

Name :

Sikander Hyat Khan

Period :

1892 - 1942

Biographical detail :

An aristocrat politician.

Sikander Hyat Khan struggled to achieve dominion status for post-British India in order to drive a balance of communal interest in the province of Punjab inhabited by Muslims by a small majority and minorities such as Hindus, Sikhs and others. His leading interest in the welfare of Punjab’s Muslims remained clouded in the roles he played in the movement of Pakistan.

It was in London while on higher studies that Khan’s interest in Indian politics grew. After a two-year sojourn in London, he returned to India and pursued dominion status for India where Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus would all live in communal harmony as he justly demonstrated possible through his leadership of the Punjab.

Khan, scaling new heights in rapid succession, in 1932 and again in 1934, acted as the first Muslim to govern Punjab since the rule of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar. British colonial government awarded him the MBE and Knighted, in 1933, for his services.

Sir Sikander Hyat Khan was appointed deputy governor of the newly created Reserve bank of India in 1935, again setting a record for being the first non-British to hold such office.

Sir Sikander’s premiership that abruptly ended after seven years in 1942 was commonly regarded as the golden age of the Punjab when the condition of the peasantry was improved – a rural reconstruction movement was launched, irrigation facilities were extended, roads were laid and the Panchayat system were established and strengthened. Thus unparalleled communal harmony amongst Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus was fostered and flourished.

Sikander Hyat Khan was born in Multan into the landed aristocracy and was descended from Sultan Mahmud Ghaznvi. The Honourable Lieutenant Colonel Nawab Sardar Sir Sikander Hyat Khan K.B.E, M.B.E, a towering personality and a devout Muslim, passed away of heart failure in Lahore.